Day 24

Here we are, the end of the line. They left something special for the final day. Another offering from The Blended Whisky Company, with The Half-Century Blend Batch 1, Aged over 50 years, 45.5% Sweet and flowery aroma. Trying to take small sips of this one to make it last. Getting some fruity taste, along with some sweetness and a hint of tobacco flavor as well. I can find nothing wrong with this, other than I couldn't see buying a full bottle of it, even though one dram left me wanting more. A fine finish for the Whisky Advent Calendar 2016.

Day 23

Today we have The Lost Distilleries Blend Batch 8, 53.1%, from The Blended Whisky Company. Nice floral aroma. First taste comes with a lot of spice, pepper or ginger which lingers for some time. A lot going on here. A dash of water seems to tame the space a bit, and now I can taste some sweetness, a touch of chocolate perhaps? Overall, very good. I couldn't see myself buying a full bottle with a cost nearing $400 - but it's quite good.

Day 22

Today we have That Boutique-y Whisky Company bringing us a Invergordon 25 Year Old (Batch 9) Single Grain 49.8%. Nice floral aroma. Some spice in the taste, along with some bitterness. The bitterness seems to come on after the initial spice. Overall enjoyable, but I was hopeful for more after the other TBWC offering earlier.

Day 21

Today we have Tamdhu Speyside Single Malt 10 Year 40%. Sweet, flowery aroma. Smooth taste, with a touch of spice, along with vanilla perhaps? Easy drinking overall.

Day 20

Here we are ... Day 20. The Advent calendar box is getting quite light now that it is sadly nearly empty. For today we have Compass Box Great King Street Artist's Blend 43%. Aroma reminds me a little bit of Gin, somewhat floral and maybe a touch of citrus. Not sure about this one - some spice in the taste, at first I thought it was fairly smooth, but my second sip I thought it had some roughness. Adding a dash of water seemed to make it have more of an edge. Probably not for me.

Day 19

Things are winding down. There are a few scotches on the list yet to come that I'm looking forward to, but today we have Glenalmond Everyday Blended Malt 40%. Some spice in the aroma, which comes across in the taste as well. Overall fairly smooth and malty. The name Everyday fits it well, as this is a fairly run of the mill Scotch to drink an any given day.

Day 18

For today we have Ileach Peaty Single Malt 40%. Peaty but also sweet aroma. Taste has some smoke, malty, some spice, but overall pretty smooth. Adding a dash of water doesn't seem to change the balance. Overall fairly enjoyable.

Day 17

One week left for the SWAC, so far it's been fun! Today we have Finlaggan Sherry Finish Single Malt 46%. Light smoke aroma. Pepper spice taste with a nice touch of smoke. Seems like some sourness in the finish, but not sure what it would be. A dash of water doesn't seem to bring down the pepper much, and seems to hid the smoke.

Day 16

For today we have Tomatin Legacy, Single Malt 43%. Not much aroma, not much taste. Some peppery spice and warmth, but that's about it. Water doesn't seem to change things much. It's not bad, just nothing out of the ordinary.

Day 15

Today we have Elements of Islay Peat Blended Malt 59.3%. Strong earthy aroma. Taste is complex, lots of going on. Quite a bit of smoke/peat, seems like significant spice too, quite a bit of heat and I don't think it's from the alcohol. A dash of water seems to bring down the heat some. Overall enjoyable.

Day 14

Today we have a Port Askaig Islay 100° Proof Single Malt 57.1%, so it's really 114 Proof. Don't let the light color fool you, this is some serious stuff. Smokey aroma with some spice as well. Taste is potent, strong warmth, touch of smoke, some spices, great overall taste. A dash of water brings down the edge a bit, makes it more drinkable. I like this quite a bit, but I think 1 drink of it would be enough for the evening - too many could spell trouble.

Day 13

Today we have a 12 Year Highland Park Single Malt 40%. Aroma that makes you want to inhale deeper, very nice, somewhat floral. Peppery spice flavor, along with some wood like taste - not exactly smoke. A dash of water seems to smooth out the rough edges a bit. Overall enjoyable.

Day 12

Today we have Macallan 12 Year Double Cask 40%. I've rarely been disappointed with Macallan, all I have tried have been solid. Nice aroma for this one, somewhat fruity. Taste is a bit of cinnamon I beleive, seems like butterscotch too. Overall, very nice, but a step back from yesterday's offering.

Day 11

Today we have something from "That Boutique-y Whisky Company" aka TBWC, a 23 Year Old Islay Blended Malt (Number 1 - Batch 1), 46.3%. Light smoke aroma, initial taste of smoke and spices, maybe ginger. Seems to have a sweet aftertaste of some sort that lingers for some time. This is good stuff, I wish I had more of it, probably my favorite so far.

Day 10

After a few days in a row with scotches in the 40s, today we have The Girvan Patent Still Proof Strength Single Grain 57.1%. Deep aroma, initially spicy taste, pepper? While you can taste the strength, it wasn't overly so. A dash of water only seemed to magnify everything about this. Found today's Scotch interesting, but not sure if it was to my liking.

Day 9

For today we have a Haig Club "Clubman" Single grain scotch, 40%. Very sweet aroma - honey... caramel? Not sure. Taste is a little rough. Checking online reviews of this one, it looks like this is usually used in mixed drinks, so maybe straight, or with a dash of water, isn't the way to enjoy this one. After I was half way through the dram, I added a splash of ginger ale, and it was enjoyable after that, but not what I usually want from my scotch.

Day 8

For today, we have Talisker Skye Single Malt 45.8%. Sweet aroma, deep color, nice initial taste, with a touch of peat, maybe some honey. A little lingering spice taste, overall pretty appealing.

Day 7

Today we have an Islay 6 Year Old from Single Minded (Douglas Laing), 48.4%. Nice aroma, light in color, but packs some punch with quite a bit of zest and flavors I can't quite place. At the start of the glass I wasn't sure what to think - by the end I was thinking it was pretty good.

Day 6

Today we have The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year Single Malt 43%. Damn tasty - nice warmth, great aroma, light sweet taste, good flavor. I could drink this all night, but sadly, I only have one dram (:

Day 5

Today we have something you'll find in most every liquor store - a Glenfiddich 18 Year Single Malt coming in at 40%. As one would expect with an 18 year 40%, this was silky smooth, some subtle sweetness and solid flavor, but nothing unique or outstanding. I would buy this to share with non-Scotch drinking friends as it is good, but it leaves me wanting more.

Day 4

Today we have a Dalmore 15 Year Single Malt 40%. On paper, this one sounded interesting, with reviews talking about all the different flavors, but I'm just not getting anything other than "Scotch". Seems a bit dull to me - solid, just nothing unique.

Day 3

Today we have an Old Perth "Peaty Blended Malt" - Blended Malt Scotch Whisky 46%. No claims of age. Nice earthy aroma, with a light color (or should that be colour?) This 46% has more bite than the 58% and 59.9% the previous days - warming my heart, my face, my throat. Peaty, as the name says, but not overly so. Interesting, but I don't know if I would buy a bottle.

Day 2

Today's offering was a Kilchoman 5 Year Old 2010 Single Octave Cask Release, coming in at 58%. I was a bit worried given the strength and the age, but it was smoother than I expected but sill packed some punch. Really awesome smokey aroma, nice balanced taste. Enjoyed this one, but looking online at Master of Malt, it doesn't look like they carry this, so it must have been a limited bottling.

Day 1

The Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar started off with a 2009 (bottled in 2016) Glenfarclas Cask Strength (59.9%). Nice warmth, smoother than expected from the age and strength. Some sweetness and maybe some toffee/caramel flavor? A solid start for the calendar.

Tomorrow

December 1st the the traditional day to start advent calendars - so I'll be starting to sample these tomorrow. The plan is to have a 1/2 shot of 21 year blended Scotch as a baseline - and then try the daily scotch from the calendar. Cheers!

Arrival

My 2016 Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar showed up - very well packed, but I guess that's to be expected. Now to wait ... cheers!

Tracking Number, woot!

Tracking number received - good thing this didn't show up before tonight's Game 7 as I'd be tempted to open it up and have a few (:

Welcome!

This Blog is going to be a place for me to review and discuss The Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar (2016 Edition) from Master of Malt. Cheers!